The 26/11 trial may go on for a while. The special court on Tuesday deferred taking a decision on whether it would accept Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab’s statement that he is guilty of the November 26 attacks and cut the trial short.
The court postponed taking the decision after special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam told the court he needed time to prepare a reply to 21-year-old Kasab’s statement, made on Monday. The court will hear Nikam on Wednesday after which it will decide whether to accept or reject Kasab’s plea. What can happen today
“The statement is long and I want to point out many excluded things, which the accused [Kasab] had admitted to in his confessional statement recorded by a judicial magistrate [which he retracted before the trial began],” Nikam told court.
Special judge M.L. Taheliyani said he had three options once the arguments are complete — accept Kasab’s statement and pronounce the verdict; reject it and proceed with the trial; and accept the statement but proceed with the trial.
Earlier in the day, Kasab, the only surviving terrorist of the attack, continued with his statement in Hindi: “Hame CST ka target diya gaya tha, waha firing karna tha aur wahi par upar ke male par kuchh logon ko bandhak banane ko kaha gaya tha (We were told to carry out an attack at CST and keep some people hostage within the terminus).”
{{/usCountry}}Earlier in the day, Kasab, the only surviving terrorist of the attack, continued with his statement in Hindi: “Hame CST ka target diya gaya tha, waha firing karna tha aur wahi par upar ke male par kuchh logon ko bandhak banane ko kaha gaya tha (We were told to carry out an attack at CST and keep some people hostage within the terminus).”
{{/usCountry}}Kasab, who was in the same white kurta-pyjama he was wearing on Monday, told the court how he and his nine comrades were brainwashed by the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba top brass during their training. The judge has asked the media not to reveal details of how they were brainwashed.